More of the Same

I keep meaning to post but then I realize, I really don't have anything to write about. Around here it is just more of the same all the time. It is getting quite boring actually. We eat, we play, we nap, we repeat. It is driving me quite buggy. I have been planning lots of play dates lately which is the only thing keeping me going some days. I have also looked around to see what other things there are in the area that I can do with the kids, that I am brave enough to take two small kids to do. Next week we are going to hit up a program at the library for 30 minutes. It is geared towards kids Marcus's age so hopefully they won't kick William out because he is a few months shy of the age group.

On Sunday our little family of four headed to the mall play area for something different to do. While William sat on Greg's lap and looked at a book, I watched Marcus do laps. For 15 straight minutes he ran around the rather large play area at full speed. He slammed into two people (one his size and one quite a bit bigger), fell to the ground, jumped up, and ran some more. At one point he tripped over his own feet and went face first into one of the slides. He cried. I picked him up to make sure he was okay. He started yelling, "Down!" So down he went and off he went to do a few more laps. He had a nice long nap on Sunday.

William has been walking like crazy. He is still quite unsteady on his feet but that doesn't stop him from using walking as his main mode of transportation these days. He has also been driving me crazy. He has one word that he insists on repeating over and over and over. Seriously, he will go on for 10 minutes, stop to take a breath, and start back up again. His "word" is ma, which means all of the following:
- more
- I want that
- I want attention
- let's read a book
- hey you
- look at that
- I see the dog
- I'm hungry
- I'm thirsty
- put me down
- pick me up
- there currently isn't any sound coming out of my mouth so I better make this sound to fill that void

I recall that Marcus went through a stage where all he said all day long was "eh". My only comfort in this whole situation is that eventually Marcus did stop. After three weeks of ma ma ma ma ma all the time, I often forget that it isn't likely that I will be sending him off to college someday and all he will have to say is ma ma ma ma ma ma. Knowing it is only a phase doesn't really make it better in the moment though. I still find myself needing to leave the room at times to make my own noise, which sounds a lot like a frustrated scream.

I took the kids out of the house to a public place by myself yesterday for the first time. Go me! I have wanted to take them out for awhile now but there just wasn't anywhere to go. Plus, the weather has just been ugly. Every time I would think that we had somewhere to go, it would snow or sleet or rain or just be unbearably cold. I was not happy to see that the weather forecast yesterday was rain. It was just an ugly spitting rain though and I wasn't going to let that stop me. We went to Target. Sure, I accidentally set off the car alarm when I was putting the keys in my pocket in the parking lot and yes, the alarm went off when I left the store with my (paid for) packages (and no one even bothered to come after me just in case I actually did steal something). However, it was a wildly successful trip. William only complained about being in the stroller with a little whine while we were waiting at the register to leave. Other than that, I don't even think I heard a peep out of either kid the whole way and we were probably shopping for 45 minutes. William now has some new shoes. Marcus now has a lullaby CD and a little CD player that will be put to use when the kids someday start sharing a room. I also got some closet organizers for the kid's closet because it was getting out of control in there. I was not able to find mittens for Marcus. He grew out of his mittens from last year (which he never wore anyway) and now being that it is February, Target is selling swimsuits, not mittens. I was also not able to locate any slippers for Marcus either. The slipper aisle is now without a single pair of slippers. It is nice to know that if I want a pair of flipflops to wear to the pool this month, I can get those.

When we got back out to the car and I got everything and everyone loaded up, I slid into my seat and started doing the happy dance because I was quite joyful that we were able to leave the house and no one cried. As I danced I sang, "Go Mommy! You're awesome! You're the coolest! You're the coolest!" Then as a grand finale to my song and dance rendition I turned to Marcus and sang, "Who's the coolest?" Marcus yelled, "Dada!" Obviously he has a lot to learn.

(I was able to find Marcus a pair of slippers at the grocery store last night, of all places. They are the cutest little things and Marcus loved them for the 10 minutes he had a chance to wear them before bedtime.)